Center Stage: NaruHina
by Winry Helena Rockbell
Summary: NaruHina Month 2016 - Day 7: Dancing. After it was decided that Hinata had no future as dancer, she is sent to another studio from her father's own dance studio where she meets Naruto, a young dancer who lacks technique but has the passion and confidence. Her life turns around for the better as she finds a new source of inspiration. COMPLETE (I accidentally on in-progress)
1. Chapter 1

**For NaruHina Month 2016 Day 7**

 **Prompt: Dancing ( I made it AU coz why not!)**

 **Author's Note: I made references to real life people and real life dance conventions, see the notes at the end of the fanfiction for clarification. The fictional dance studio the story takes place is located in the Los Angeles, California area.**

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 _The studio is so massive! Bigger than father's, I could just get lost here!_ A little girl donned a light blue strapped leotard, wrap skirt and pink tights sat on the chair with her arms and legs folded close to her body. Goose bumps cover her normally soft skin thanks to the air conditioner in the lobby of the studio. Her head was faced down and her arms hugging her legs tightly. She was shaking slightly from the nerves.

Her caregiver, stood in front of the reception desk frowning as he filled mountainous paperwork. _Hinata Hyuga_ was written on the space saying "child's name". Her age on the form was listed as 9 and that she would be enrolled in ballet, jazz, acrobatics and tap classes. The paperwork required the signature of a parent, however neither of the little girl's parent was there.

"Why isn't her father here?" The woman behind the desk asked

"He is too busy, he has another daughter in his care."

"And what's your relationship to her?"

"Her Kinsman, Ko Hyuga, I have been assigned as her caregiver by her father"

"I need an official document or note from her father including his signature tomorrow. She can go to class today"

Hinata could hear the conversation from her seat, as she reminisce the words of her father regarding her dancing. She eavesdropped against the door of the room where the conversation between him and Ko was taking place.

"She doesn't have the body! She doesn't have the fire! Her stage presence just isn't there!"

"Hiashi-sama…"

"She's not like her mother, she looks like her, but she has no control in her movements, no strength and just doesn't pick up choreography quick enough. And where are her techniques? It's just terrible"

"She only turned 9, she's slower than all other Hyuga kids but she'll come on her own"

"Her younger sister on the other hand, has the body, has the technique, a quick learner, a confidence that she can command the stage on her own."

Hinata was saddened at the comparison between her and her younger sister. She wants to dance, but she wishes class time was just happier and has less berating from her father. She loves seeing the ballerinas in their tutus flawlessly nailing pirouettes, balancing on their pointe shoes and wishes she could be like that as well. She loved seeing the older girls in conventions getting called out to perform combinations and in competitions where they just light the stage with their ethereal movements. However, as much as they bring her joy, tears would fell. At the back of her head she can hear the words of her father reinforcing that there was no future for her as a dancer, which she would never dance in a way that would impress him. When she was told that she was to be sent to another studio, her heart only shatters, she spent time drowning in her own tears that nobody would save her from.

The lady from behind the reception desk lead Hinata to her first ballet class and left immediately. Hinata looked around the studio to see boys and girls alike talking before class starts.

Suddenly a blonde boy with blue eyes came bursting to the classroom with a voice that dominates the wide space of the rehearsal studio. Like the other boys, he sported a white fitted top with black tights.

"Today I'm going to nail the barre and center work!"

"Oh really, Naruto? You couldn't even remember to point your feet and straighten your knees!"

"Really I am . Believe it!"

A tall woman with blonde thick hair walked into the room interrupting the conversation and clapped her hands to garner the attention to class.

"It's 10 minutes until barre work, why aren't we all ready to stretch!"

The children gather to the center and spread themselves across the floor of the rehearsal studio. They all each sat with their legs extended in front of them to stretch their hamstring.

"Point your toes, keep your knees as straight as you can and touch your toes!"

Hinata had no trouble with this exercise but being anxious, she looks to the pink haired girl besides her wearing an identical light blue leotard.

"S-sorry what's her name?" she muttered under her breathing

"Who? The teacher? Miss Tsunade our ballet mistress, don't let her catch you talking!"

"Sakura! Are we allowed to speak in class?" Sakura flicked her head up facing the older woman as she reprimanded her.

"No miss, she's asking who you are", Tsunade then turned her attention to the dark haired girl next to her

"Oh sorry sweetheart I haven't introduced myself to you. You must be Hinata the new girl, I'm Miss Tsunade and I am your ballet teacher"

"y-yes ma'am" the little girl trembled as she senses the authority of the older woman

"Don't be scared to ask questions, when I say question time or after class, no speaking in class other than that"

As soon as they've done other stretching exercises, they moved on to barre. Hinata was embarrassed as she along with Naruto were getting the most corrections, with Tsunade coming over to fix their postures. Though, Naruto did come under Tsunade's fire for needing constant reminder to point his feet in class. After barre, it was break before proceeding to center work.

As they were heading out the lobby for a short break, Naruto who has been getting constant critiques, recalled seeing her from a previous encounter.

"Wait a minute I remembered your face" Hinata looked straight into the boy's face and widened her eyes as he exclaimed.

"you're that girl from JUMP Dance Convention* in Phoenix, Arizona!"

HInata's face turned red in a split second. That was the competition and convention she last attended. The memories of the convention weren't a pleasant one at all. During the classes, the mini age division (8-10 years old) from different dance studious across the region had an audition for a chance to win a scholarship. The massive group of minis were divided so they could perform a dance combo and be assessed carefully by the faculty. This is done so they would award the best dancers with scholarships to an intensive course and granted a spot to compete for the Best Dancer title at the national finals round of the competition.

When it was Hinata's turn to perform, her mind went blank and her body froze. She does not remember the second part of the choreography. Her breathing become faster, soon it was harder to breathe in oxygen, her heart pounding loud on her chest and she can feel the temperatures rising on her cheeks. Tears began to stain on her small face as she collapsed on the spot. Luckily paramedics were readily on standby at the venue and managed to calm her down from the panic attack. Though she was fine it only meant that she no longer has a chance to win a scholarship.

When the competition portion of the convention came along, the group and solo numbers were competed on stage. When it was her turn to compete, she forgot her solo routine and ran offstage. After that incident, her father forbade her from attending anymore competitions that season including competing in group numbers at nationals.

Now she had only found herself in a more embarrassing position because she just realised that the boy she admired had been watching her without her knowing.

"Hey don't worry about what happened, new dance season it's time to start off with a clean slate."

Hinata face up to see Naruto smiling to her. She felt warmth on her face as the blood rushes to her alabaster cheeks, hoping he did not see that.

"Come on let's go back to ballet class"

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 **Please comment! Constructive criticisms welcome, just be polite. Thanks**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's notes: I made reference to a SIGNIFICANT conversation that happened in canon material. Hope you can find it, though I have modified it slightly to fit the context of the fanfic AU.**

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Hinata's struggle in the center work was slightly better than her barre work, though she struggled by lacking core strength to keep her balance. This resulted her falling out of her pirouettes and other turn sequences.

After ballet class, Hinata spotted Naruto as he stretched in the lobby doing an oversplit with his front leg extended resting on a chair and his back leg extended from his back . She shuffled close to where he was sitting, her heart was pounding and her mouth was dry. Taking a deep breath, she managed to talk in a small voice.

"I remember you too." Naruto turned around to face the short white eyed girl

"You mean at JUMP Phoenix? Last season?"

"Yeah you're the boy Travis* called out during the scholarship audition."

 **Flashback to JUMP Dance Convention in Phoenix, Arizona last season**

Unlike Hinata, Naruto considered his achievement at the convention a personal achievement. Though he lacked technique with his sickled feet and bent knee, he had the energy, confidence and stage presence. Even the teacher and competition judges acknowledged this. His musical theatre solo, though didn't place top 10 in the awards, it was the most captivating for Hinata as she watched from backstage.

After the awards ceremony, fellow students from the studio shared whispers of gossips among themselves

"Didn't Naruto say he's going to place top 10 in this comp?" snickered a young girl long blonde hair with the name Ino sewed onto her dance studio's uniform jacket

"But he didn't." snickered a boy with short messy black hair with the name Kiba on his jacket.

"Well if not today, then the next competition"

The other boys and girls began laughing and looked down on the short boy.

"Believe me one day I will place and I'll make sure I'll get first overall and a national title! Believe it!"

"Sorry to break it to you Naruto, the trend with national title winners is that they already start placing top 10 even top 3 in competitions younger than we are now."

"Believe it I will win a title, sooner or later"

That conversation was in range of Hinata's earshot. She doesn't know why, but his dancing captures her eyes more than anybody else's. his smile and facial expression either onstage or offstage were so endearing

 _I could never forget that smile …_ she thought to herself.

 **Back to the present**

"I heard you're having a solo this competition season, and you're going up against my cousin Neji when our studio is going to JUMP at Los Angeles, are you scared?"

Naruto took his front leg off the chair and repositioned himself to a normal sitting position. Naruto knew, in fact every dancers who are active in competitive dancing knew what a prodigy Neji is. He was 1st runner up for the title of Mini Best Male Dancer, only losing to a dancer a year older than him. In fact he saw Neji taunting Hinata backstage, calling her a complete failure and that she should stop dancing. His taunting only got worse when she forgot her solo and ran offstage.

"I heard about your cousin, he's an amazing dancer. He has the technique, he could probably make it to a company like New York City Ballet or even The Royal Ballet."

Hinata sighed, she knew Naruto was right, but Naruto has the energy and passion that Neji has.

"Naruto, you're a really great dancer. In my eyes you're a proud failure. When I watch you dance, I feel a fire inside my heart"

"Fire!" Naruto exclaimed

"No don't take it in a bad way. I mean it in a good way. Because you're not perfect…because you make mistakes. You have the strength and passion to strive to be a better dancer… Because I believe that's who true dancers are"

"Thanks Hinata you're right, great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion. I was feeling very upset and not myself, but now I feel great. You know about you...I always thought that you were just a plain looking, dark weirdo"

Hinata slumped her head down at the comment, taken aback.

"...But a dancer and person like you...I really like!"

Hinata lifted her head again. She wondered if she heard him right. He liked her as a dancer?

"Oh gosh, I'm late for my private class for my solo. I'll see you tomorrow in ballet and acrobatics classes!"

"Bye!" Her voice was almost high as a squirrel, still surprised at his revelation.

"You better watch me when I slay Neji on the dance floor at the competition!"

Hinata promised that she would watch as they compete. Hopefully she can at least participate at the convention.

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 **Author Notes:**

 ***JUMP is a dance convention that holds workshops and competitions for mainly young dancers. They tour around different cities in USA, Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica. Visit their website here for more info.**

 ****I'm referring to Travis Wall who is a faculty member at JUMP Dance Convention, he is also a choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance USA**


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